Shades Of Grey.

"There is no client as scary as an innocent man." - J. M. Haller.
This is the quote with which the book 'The Lincoln Lawyer' by Michael Connelly begins. The book, like many other works of its kind, describes snippets of the life of a lawyer. What is intriguing is the profundity of the quote. How much one can glean about lawyers from just that one line! Though all our lives are in one way or the other a shade of grey, lawyers present a succulent case study. One of my primary school teacher's used to spout out saying 'Lawyers are Liars!' She never explained why she despised them so much. Nevertheless, it is true in many ways that lawyers twist and bend the truth to their advantage. I am not really bothered about the questions on the morality of lawyers or their actions. There can never be a satisfying answer to such questions and such questions can never be restricted to just lawyers. The important question is about the consequences of their actions, not on others but on themselves. If we lived in a world painted only in the shades of grey; somewhere along the line, we would never know the difference between white and black anymore. In a similar manner, on the long run, the thin line separating everything thing from its alter ego completely disappears. Everything in life becomes equivocal. Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde cant differentiate from each other!
Everyone of us usually have or will come to a point when we are not certain about why we are doing what we are doing. The morality of our action can be judged based on some loose rules. But, the repercussions of our actions are always felt later. Probably its a battle between our ego, suggesting that the most superior race on earth should be absolutely right always, and Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest. The world we live in is redefined every time depending on what makes living easier thereby mostly pushing us into the greyer reaches of truth. One can only speculate now about how they might feel about their decisions in life 20-30 years down the line. Would we by then have floated off into grayer reaches of life, to the point of no return?

In Pursuit Of Truth.

Truth, is something people always (or most of the times) seek. Oddly in one way or the other, truth is something people expect. Why should people be drawn towards truth? Is it some sort of satisfaction to ones' ego? Is it some power the truth bestows upon the person? Is it curiosity that fuels this desire to know the truth? Before even considering these questions, one may be drawn to wonder how much of what they know and have been told is the truth? Lets look at history. How certain are historians about every record of the past? History has always been a long line of interpretations of interpretations, which most definitely would have distorted the truth with time. Its also been noted that from time to time by historians themselves that history has been recorded with a bias forced upon the historian by the ruling hand. Even with regard to today's current affairs, one may sometimes never know the truth. In spite of all the lies and part truth fed to people from birth to death, most are indifferent to all this as long as it concerns the truth about the larger things in life; common truth in a manner of saying. But, people are not so forgiving when the integrity of 'personal truth' is concerned. Thus, in one way or the other, we are in pursuit of truth, each person varying from the other only in terms of intensity and level. Why; is something each person should eventually reason out to themselves. But, there is truth in the existence of this common pursuit.

People usually lay importance to knowing and sharing the truth. But, honestly has it always helped? People always come across a situation when it seems most logical to lie to someone for a good cause, most often to protect the person being lied to. Often people regret knowing the truth and wish otherwise. Truth (and sometimes knowledge) turns people more insensitive and indifferent to some aspects of life. Life itself seems to loose colour and flavour to turn into a morose grey. So is truth about everything, something that people want? Is it something people can live with? Often ones' desire to know the truth is used against them. Truth has been very often distorted to benefit a small group. Paradoxically, absolute truth is something people want but something that most, or rather all, would never share.